Driving mechanism.



J. C. CROMWELL.

DRIVING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED APRJQ. 1909.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETS-S HEET 1.

Win 6666 5" toumuu PLANOORAPH COqWAfiHINUTON. n. c.

J. G. GROMWELL.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19. 1909 1,089,693, Patented Mar. 10, 191i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN G. CROM'WELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO. g

DRIVING MECHANISM.

resaees.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 19, 1909.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914:.

Seri'al No. 490,703.

To all whom it may concem Be it known that I, JOHN G. CnoMWnnL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Driving Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to centrifugal separators of the type especially adapted for the separation of cream from the whole milk.

An object has been to arrange the parts so that the power transmission shall have a flexibility which I have discovered to be valuable in connection with high speed separaters.

A still further object has been to avoid looseness of the driving connections and thus avoid the noise consequent upon loose connections, which noise has in many other types of machine been sufficient to cause the discontinuance of their use.

The above objects and other useful advantages it will be seen are attained by that embodiment'of my invention described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure l is a vertical section through the frame of the separator showing the separating head and its driving connections together with the bearings of the driving shafts. Fig. 2 is a similar section through the upper end of the frame but at right angles to the section shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the connection of the driving handle. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the bearings of the driving shaft and separator spindle.

The frame of the support comprises a platform A on which the separator B is sup ported and a web or diaphragm A in the lower part, which web or diaphragm supports the bearings for the end of the separator spindle B and the driving shaft 0. At the upper end of the frame is secured a box or housing A in which is held a driving wheel C through which motion is communicated to the driving shaft, the said wheel being rotated by means of a handle C or other suitable means. Owing to the driving connection which I have shown and which will be described below, this wheel may be placed at a convenient height for operation by hand without entailing the necessity for mounting the separator head B at such a height as to make it inconvenient for the pouring of milk into the reservoir D.

The separator spindle is parallel with the vertical driving shaft and is itself hung upon anti-friction bearings at the upper end thereof, which bearings are capable of a sidewisc oscillation and permit the tilting of the separatorspindle after the manner of the generically similar bearing shown as supporting the separator in my Patent No. 856,228 issued June 11th, 1907. The spindle is provided immediately below the head with a bearing surface 13 preferably spherical in curvature, which surface is supported on balls held in a raceway capable of sidcwise oscillation. In the present instance the raceway is located on the interior of a ringB' having a flat surface resting upon a corresponding flat annular ledge of the platform A. Some suitable means such as a surrounding spring tends to hold the ring in its con tral position, but permits it to oscillate laterally under the influence of the separator head when the latter is rotated.

The lower end of the spindle is centered and opposed in its lateral movement by means of a surrounding circle of balls held between two iinlepcmilent members E, E forming a ball-race, one of the members, the lower one E in the present instance, being movable relative to the other and held by spring pressure in such position as to force the balls against the bearing surface of the spindle. This bearing is obviously such that it tends to oppose all lateral pressure and movement of the spindle. Such movement, however, is possible, and when it takes place the movable member of the ball-race shifts so as to permit the adjustment of the balls to the new axial position of the spindle. This lateral movement of the spindle and adjustment of the balls to any position of the spindle is due to the fact that the lower member IQ of the ball race may yield or move slightly away from the fixed member E of the ball race against the action of the spring below the member E, due to the pressure of the spindle on the balls contained within the ball race.

The two sets of bearings above described for the upper and lower ends of the spindle obviously permit the latter both to tilt and to shift laterally at each end and thus accommodate itself to those peculiar tendencies of high speed separators, which seem rarely, if ever, to remain absolutely true upon a given axis throughout their range of speeds.

lhe driving shaft C is hung on ball bearings at the upper end so as to have a swingspiral worm G near the upper end where it receives motion from the driving wheel and has a large spiral gear wheel 0 near the lower end thereof transmitting motion to a smaller spiral B fixed on the lower end of the separator spindle B.

The bearings for the lower end of the driving shaft are provided with an antifriction centering bearing similar to that provided for the lower end of the separator spindle. By reason of this, the spiral gear 0* on said driving shaft may yield to the movements of the spiral on the lower end of the separator spindle and avoid all of the wear and grinding which would occur if the lower end of the driving shaft did not yield. The practical advantage of this arrangement is greater than might at first appear. lvlachines having ball bearings that operate perfectly at first, frequently will require subsequent adjustment whenever wear takes place. It is a well known fact that the users of such machines will not make such adjustment properly even when the fullest directions accompany the machine. With a construction such as 1 have here described it will be seen that there is no adjustment which it is necessary for the user to make, the shaft and spindle being self-centering and the bearings being such as to permit a yielding of the shaft to the oscillation of the spindle, thus avoiding wear and necessity for adjustment. Such machines, therefore, need not be subject to the skill or lack of skill on the part of the user but will remain in the .condition in which they are sent from the factory.

A further but not altogether minor advantage of this construction is the relative noiselessness of the machine in action. Frames of this sort have somewhat the effect of a sounding board and any imperfecmg or tilting movement thereon, and has a agreeable. With a flexible driving connection such as that shown in which the gear on the driving shaft yields and accommodates itself to the oscillations of the pinion upon the spindle, the connection is practically noiseless and the disagreeable efiect referred to is obviated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Driving mechanism comprising two parallel shafts, one adapted to drive the other, a gear wheel on each of said shafts intermeshing each with the other, and a yielding bearing for each of said shafts ad jacent to the gear wheels to permit the shafts to vibrate with relation to each other; substantially as described. I

2. A rotatable device havinga downwardly extending spindle, antifriction bearings for said device, a yielding centering anti-friction hearing about the lower end ofthe spindle, a driving shaft parallel with the spindle, a yielding centering antifriction bearing at the lower end of the driving shaft, and driving connections be tween the shaft and spindle; substantially as described.

8. A rotatable device having a downwardly extending spindle, antifriction bearings for supporting said device, a spring-pressed ball-bearing about the lower end of the spindle arranged to maintain the spindle in its central position, but permitting it to tilt and shift in a lateral direction against the pressure of said spring, a driving shaft parallel with said spindle, a spring-actuated ball-bearing for the lower end of said driving shaft arranged to permit the shaft to tilt and shift in a lateral direction against the action of said spring, and a gear connection between the driving shaft and the end of the spindle; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN C. CROlWVVELL. Witnesses:

' H. R. SULLIVAN,

J. M. WooDwARn.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. (3. v 

